Nym's Arc

Chapter 17 of 41

Magnus knelt by the table. He gripped Drasila's cold hand. "My magic keeps her breathing. It cannot pull her back." He looked at Nym, his silver hair loose, his eyes red from sleepless nights. "But you can. The runes in these walls were laid when this tower was built. Only her blood can wake them. Call to them, Nym. Only you." Nym did not understand, but she trusted him. She crossed to the stone wall and pressed both palms flat against it. The stone felt cold, then warm. Marks she had never seen rose under her hands like ripples. She closed her eyes and reached for them, the way she had reached for the white light before. Warmth climbed from the floor into her feet. It filled her chest. Her boots lifted off the ground. When she opened her eyes they poured out white light. Her hands burned bright against the wall. The runes glowed to meet her. The wall split. From it stepped two silver-haired women, twins, in short yellow dresses covered with the same marks that shone on the stone. Their pale purple eyes fixed on Drasila. They moved as one. "The Runevale twins," Magnus breathed. "Rune Keepers. I have not seen them in over three hundred years I thought it was only me left." One twin wore her hair up. The other wore it short. They circled the table without a word. The short-haired one touched Drasila's brow. The other laid a hand over her heart. "Add your light," the first twin told Nym. "Blood and keepers together. It is the only way that holds." Nym drifted to the table. She set her glowing hands on her mother's rune-marked fingers. Magnus placed his hand over hers. The twins pressed down. White light and gold light braided together and sank into Drasila's chest. Drasila's back arched. The gray drained from her skin for the last time. The white streak in her hair stopped spreading. Color returned to her lips. Her chest filled with a deep, real breath. Her eyes opened. Pale blue. Clear. They stayed open. Nym's feet touched the floor. The light faded from her hands. "Mother." "I am here," Drasila said. Her voice was rough but steady. She turned her head and saw Nym fully for the first time. "You have your father's stubbornness." She reached up and touched Nym's cheek. "And my eyes." The twins stepped back to the wall. "She will not sleep again," the short-haired one said. Drasila's hand tightened on Nym's. "Sit, child.“ Nym sat. At last her mother was awake, and ready to speak. Magnus fell to his knees. He did not say anything he just stared at Drasila.